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Friday, April 04, 2008

Vanlue wants to discuss merger

Legacy
By DENISE GRANT

Staff Writer

VANLUE — Faced with hard numbers that could mean hard times for Vanlue School, the school board is looking for help from its neighbors to the north.

The Vanlue board has sent a letter to the Arcadia school board asking for a special public meeting to discuss a possible merger.

The letter was sent March 13, but so far there has been no response.

Arcadia Superintendent Laurie Walles confirmed her board has received the letter and is still discussing the overture.

Vanlue has asked Larry Busdeker, superintendent of the Hancock County Educational Service Center, to serve as moderator should the two boards meet.

Walles said before any joint meeting, she would like to meet with Busdeker and Vanlue Superintendent Rodney Russell to discuss a possible agenda for the meeting, which she could then present to her board as it considers coming to the table.

Russell said his board is pursuing the talks at the urging of community members.

At a meeting in February, Vanlue residents were given an opportunity to look over the district's books. As early as 2009, the school district is facing red ink, and will need about $500,000 in additional revenue every year. In Vanlue, that is the equivalent of an additional 1.25 percent income tax or 18 mills in property taxes.

School officials are already moving to cut expenses next school year, but with one teacher for each grade level, there's not much to trim.

Those aren't the only numbers that are adding up to financial trouble for Vanlue School. Enrollment continues to drop.

Vanlue's enrollment, taken in October, was 286. The school only has 28 seniors and 14 kindergartners. Next school year, Vanlue expects to enroll about 265 students.

The district is currently third smallest in the state. Bettsville has 212 students and Put-In-Bay has 89.

Fewer students means higher per-pupil expenses for Vanlue School. In 2004 it cost about $6,760 to educate a child in Vanlue. The cost has now increased to $8,321.

Arcadia's enrollment stands at 633.

If Vanlue was combined with Arcadia, the new school district would be third largest among Hancock County's school districts, excluding Findlay. Both Liberty-Benton and Van Buren districts have more than 1,000 students.

Combining Vanlue and Arcadia would be an unusual move.

"There has not been a merger situation any time in recent memory" in Ohio, according to Scott Blake, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education.

He said state law dictates how school districts can be dissolved and how mergers can take place.

There are several ways a merger can be accomplished.

The Ohio Department of Education has the authority to dissolve a school district and reallocate its territory if a district is found unable to comply with state operating standards.

The agency can also order a study to determine if a new school district should be created, or an existing district transferred. The proposal would be subject to voter approval.

Mergers can also be initiated by school districts.

School districts within the same educational service center territory, as Vanlue and Arcadia are, may initiate a resolution by the service center's governing board to unite.

Voters may also place a merger issue on the ballot through a petition drive.

In counties with a population of less than 100,000, two school districts can also create a merger commission to study the merits of a consolidation. A recommendation to merge from the commission can be subject to voter approval.

Contact staff writer Denise Grant at:

(419) 427-8412

Send an e-mail to Denise Grant
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